When your kids are in an artsy-crafty mood, you want to make sure you have some basic art supplies on hand.

When you've got kids at home, chances are you're going to find yourself doing arts and crafts on a pretty regular basis. Arts and crafts projects are a great way to keep kiddos busy, and encourage their creativity! They're also a great way to make a fun mess, which are the best kind of messes in our opinion. But have you ever announced a craft day, only to discover you don't have enough supplies on hand to actually craft anything?

In order to make art, you have to prepare for art! But don't despair - you don't need to transform your house into an art studio or kindergarten classroom to be prepared for the occasional craft day! All you need is a few staples on hand to turn all your kids' art and craft projects into works of art.

These 10 art supplies are versatile, easy to store, and will be used over and over again. You don't need to break the bank stocking your art supply collection - just stick to the basics!

Unless you want your budding artists to turn your walls into their canvas, you are definitely going to need some construction paper on hand. Get a variety of colors and sizes, and plenty of white construction paper. The paper can be used for drawing, painting, and cut up to make shapes, mosaics, and collages. You can even tape several pieces together to make larger canvases.

We can't seem to keep tape in stock in our house, because our kids are always running off with our rolls to use for their craft projects. Skip buying the tape in the dispensers, and opt instead for the bulk rolls. You can find a cheap tape dispenser to refill when needed.

You'll find tempera paint in bottles or tubes, and they're usually pretty big so they last a long time. Just squeeze what you need onto a paper plate or in an ice cube tray! You can use tempera paint with brushes, sponges, cotton balls, pretty much anything. Plus, it's nontoxic and washable and can be used on pretty much any surface.

An artist can't create with paint and canvas alone - they need brushes! You can find paintbrush sets that have a variety of brushes in different sizes. We like the synthetic brushes because they tend to last longer and hold up better when used by not-so-gentle kiddos. Make sure to clean and dry your brushes thoroughly between uses to help them last longer.

Kids go through crayons quicker than undies and socks! So you should have a solid supply of crayons for your craft days. We usually by the big boxes of 120-150 crayons that that have doubles of the most popular primary colors, plus lots of black crayons. Why are the black crayons always the first to get worn down?!

Crayons are cool, but some art projects call for more precise lines and more vibrant colors. Which is why markers are a must-have for any home arts and crafts supply collection. We typically keep a variety of colors and sizes on-hand - fine tip for precise drawing, and thick broad tip for coloring and small hands.

Tempera paints are great, but sometimes a craft day calls for watercolors. We love watercolors because they're easy to use and clean up. You can go with the solid palettes or you can use liquid watercolors, which can be used for coloring play dough, making slime, or making homemade lava lamps.

We learned our lesson after the summer of slime - you can never have too much white school glue on hand. You'll use it for so many craft projects! Buy it in the big bulk bottles and refill your own individual bottles at home.

We have different types of scissors for different projects and different users. We have blunt-tip for younger kids, pointed-tip for older, more experienced users, and a big, sharp pair of metal scissors for parents for project prep (like cutting paper, cardboard, pipe cleaners, etc.).

Kids of all ages love creating things with clay and Play-Doh! We keep traditional Play-Doh on hand at all times, along with the various molds and accessories that go along with it. We also have a small collection of molding clay and air clay, which kids can use to make little figurines and shapes. The air clay will dry on its own, but for the molding clay, we like the kind you can bake to set.

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Jayme is a single mom of two little girls in Southern California. Because being a single, work-from-home mom isn't stressful enough, she also has two dogs (but only one of them is crazy!). Jayme has been writing professionally for just over two years, and while she covers a lot of topics, her wheelhouse is parenting and trending news, both of which provide a wealth of material on a daily basis. She speaks her mind, cusses too much, and always sticks up for what she believes in. Her opinions are always her own, but let's be honest, they're usually always right. You can find more of her work on Mommyish, Care, and Mommy Nearest.